A Whole Lot of Nothing

                   

Well, I got up this morning, accessed the situation and called my boss to say I'd be in to work.  Not a drop of rain in Beaumont today.  But Pete & Bug had showers off and on here at home all day.  It was breezy, but nothing as bad as a serious Norther. 

Things in the office were remarkably calm.  We had worked ahead so much in preparation.  I'd say about 3/4's of our customers were open for business even though the evacuation order was only lifted this morning at 6:00am.  Tomorrow may get a little woolly, what with trying to go back and catch up those that were closed today. 

A skeleton crew on board.  Many had evacuated and hadn't returned home yet.  The company fed us a lovely lunch of sandwiches, some wicked good deviled eggs and chips.  So I can keep my leftover dumplings for tomorrow.  ;o) 

About an hour and half after I got home today we get the hardest rain we have gotten in days!!  Don't that just figure for Texas weather.....let the hurricane move out and THEN it'll get bad.  Even lost the satellite reception right at the end of Maverick.  Now I'll never know who got the real pearls.

You see reruns of Maverick on the Western channel and coffee is how I unwind every day when I get in from work. 

I'm going to predispose this with a disclaimer; I do not want any wishes or cards out of this.  Just noting that birthdays when you get older just suck.  They suck a big toe that has been in open sandals all day.  No cakes.  Very few surprises.  No flashy gifts. 

Aw, but I've got Bug to hug and kiss.  And a lovely note tied here to my computer screen.  Won't open it until she gets inside.  And hubby announced he'd cook us some breakfast for supper tonight. 

And perhaps I'm forgetting that my 48th year could have been spent looking at the remnants of our home strewn from the pond to the woods.  If Gustav had stayed strong and tracked just a little to the west, he'd of plowed right through here.  At the start of the weekend I was thinking, "Gee, thanks Lord.....a hurricane for my birthday."  Now I think, "Thank you Lord for placing your hand upon the storm and telling it to calm down now....for my birthday." 

I'm cool, I'm comfy and I'm content.  Maybe an old 1960 model woman doesn't need flash or fanfare for her birthday?! 

Barbara

Elizabeth, New Jersey

1,325 miles from Caneyhead.......SALUTE!!!!!!!!!

Tags: birthdays, 1960

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Things Looking Up all Around

Well, things are looking up all around weather wise.  For us here in SE Texas but also for those in LA.  Not near as fierce a storm as it could have been.  Coming in at an angle that will soften the blow. 

It's currently 1:35pm here.  Not  a single drop of rain yet.  A little breezy outside, but nothing worrisome.  The local weather keeps improving our forecast.  Less rain and lower wind speeds.  The officials are meeting this afternoon to consider lifting the evacuation order for this area either this evening or tomorrow.  So, I may be expected to work tomorrow.  We'll just have to see.  I won't venture out in driving rain or cross all the bridges and overpasses I have to in winds with strong gusts. 

I thank God for holding back Gustav's furry.  Of course there will still be many adversely effected that will need help and prayers.  But it could have been so many more.  Now we should begin to turn our prayers to the East Coast and whatever Hanna has in store for them.  Hanna the storm, that is.  Not my little, sweet Hannah.   :o)

Been so absorbed by the storm I had forgotten to include a salute in the past couple of entries....so:

Morocco, Indiana

825

                                               miles from Caneyhead.................SALUTE!!!!!!!!!!!

Tags: Gustav, Hanna, evacuation

Just waiting

The good news is coming!  First, Pete and Bubba got the little metal building all buried and ready to go.  If it isn't needed this go around, it'll be there for any tornado or other severe weather that should come our way.  That is if we aren't all bedded up and sleeping through it.  Lord knows this bunch does their best sleeping in bad weather. 

So far NOAA and our most trusted local meteorologist agree that we aren't going to get any of the really rough stuff here.  Winds topping out at 40-45.  A good deal of rain.  But we are high and dry as far as flooding goes. 

Pete and Bug are spraying a coat of white paint inside the shelter.  So we can see easier in there.  I have chicken & dumplings, peas and fried cornbread ready in here to eat.  Bubba, being 19, just had to run see someone for a little while. 

My stomach is growling!  My, but those dumplings smell good! So, for now all looks really good for us.  My thoughts and prayers are with those for whom it might not be so good. 

Will continue to keep you posted.  We could loose electricity over a hard sneeze around here...so it is always possible that even a gentle storm will leave us in the dark and me disconnected from you.  So, please stick to the old adage that no news is good news.  ;o) 

If you are really curious, you can read our own local forecast here:  KFDM Weather.

Tags: Storm shelters, KFDM

Gustav and I

Yes, looks like we are in an area to be impacted by Gustav.  If it holds to the track and conditions that NHC is forecasting, we should just get rain and some wind.  Winds that aren't any higher than you get for anything else.  Of course these lovely storms are prone to have surprises.

Our county joined the crowd and called for evacuation today.  We aren't going.  Pete has buried a metal shed into the side of the hill.  If we were to get anything approaching Rita force here or tornadoes, we'll sit it out in there.  We have many and varied supplies.  And are actually way better off and prepared than we were before Rita.

We have water put up and bought to get us through until Pete can get a generator on the pump and running.  We have lots of good, easy to cook on the pit or in a pot on the burner food.  Plenty of fried cornbread makings. 

So I don't want anyone out there worrying.  But prayers are welcome...for the whole Gulf Coast region.  I'll be updating here as long as I have electricity.  If we should be without it for awhile, then I'll post at my first opportunity.  If you are curious or worried, check here.  I'm sorry but I won't have time to respond to individual emails.

I want to take the opportunity to brag about my place of employment.  It's a uniform service company.  Everyone pitching in and working extra hard to get all paper work for the week finished and clothes ready for the upcoming week.  Payroll done and in the bank so to speak so we don't miss a payday.  You may think a uniform service company is not a very vital service, why all the commotion.

Well, here's the deal.  We are in the heart of the petrochemical industry.  After a storm the first thing, by executive order is to get those refineries on line.  The manpower to do so is bound by rules that say they must be in fire retardant clothing.  And where do they get it?  Yep.  Us and places like us.  We are small but very important link in a chain. 

 

 

Tags: Gustav

The Itsy Bitsy Spider...

This entry started when I went to read my friend Jon's post in his blog titled:  The Writin' Spider.  For full effect I suggest you start there, too.  Now Jon post's lots of huntin' and fishin' stories.  Some funny antidotes, a little family history and such also dot his blog. 

Anyway, back to my story.  I read his entry and left the following comment behind:

My family calls any spider they find around our house my pets, because I asked them not to tear down every web they saw or try to kill every spider.  The web really helps stop bleeding.  I want some around in case of an awful emergency.
I have never heard of a writin' spider.  But then I am East Texas.  Best as I can see, it looks like what hubby calls a banana spider.  When I saw the title I thought maybe you had Charlotte at your house! 'o)

And Jon sent me this reply:

We have lots of spiders up here and we have a lot of Black Widows.  There
used to be a lot of Tarantulas too, but I guess that, like our Horned Toads,
DDT got 'em!

I have heard that spider web helps to stop bleeding, but have never tried
it.

So I responded by sharing this short story with him:

My Daddy always said when he was a boy about nine that his brother, Hightower, ran into a barbed wire strand and sliced his neck open.  Way out in the country.....must of been around 1930.  An old woman put spider web on his wounds and quoted a verse from the Bible.  Daddy always claimed the bleeding stopped immediately. 

 

Well, a couple of years ago we had a little dog that was like family. She was older and took blood thinner and heart meds. One day she jumped out of an old truck and her toenail got ripped off in a old spring in the seat.  A weekend. All the vets closed.  Bleeding profusely.  Called the animal ER.  Much too expensive for us to take her.  Keeping it compressed was doing no good.  And I remembered Daddy's story.  And went and looked under the eaves of the house for spider web.  Found some without a dead bug in it.  Brought it in and applied it to her foot and within 20 minutes she was not bleeding.  We kept her still and quiet and she never had anymore problem.

 

That's when Jon answered me with this note:

Wow!  what a story!  You ought to make a post out of it.

 

I reflected upon his words and decided I should share it here.  So now you know the rest of the story.  ;o)  

 

Tags: spiders, bleeding, blood thiners, dogs

Simple Reflections

       

So, here I am just chilling out.  The front yard and porch is full of folks.  But I just feel tired and want to relax and not think.  Playing Mahjong Titans. 

 

The past few weeks have took a lot of twists and turns.  Blessings and trials coming seemingly hand in hand.  I am so far behind on alerts that I don't even know where to start.  Haven't decided yet if I'm even going to try. 

 

 

 

      

School starts on Monday here.  Hannah is ready for it as far as clothes and supplies go.  I'm not sure about her, herself.  She really hasn't spoken of it much one way or the other.  She's not a baby anymore.  Hardly even a little girl.  I know I'm going to blink twice and then she'll be a young woman. 

 

I look at our financial situation.  And at Pete's unanswered health issues.  The things we always are putting off until things "get better."  And I don't really get depressed.  But I do get very thankful that I have a Father who is preparing a place where one day I shall dwell and be totally contented.  No aches.  No weariness. 

 

Then I look at friends, co-workers and acquaintances and the circumstances many find themselves in with their children, their health issues, aging parents, relationships torn, and even threat of homelessness and I know that I am truly blessed even right in the here and now!  I have two fine, healthy children who are decent, caring and loving and helpful people.  A little spoilt.....but who can blame me.

 

                       

Where am I going with this?  I don't even know.  I just feel reflective tonight.  Quiet, but not sad.  Relaxed.  Content. 

 

I may start posting in my private journal again, Barefoot & Bra-less.  So, if you were ever a reader you may want to update your alerts, find your link.  If you are a regular reader or friend and don't have it, just email me and I'll get you set up. 

 

Enjoy the J-land 5 celebration!  There are many entries posted to the special journal:  J-land Anniversary Blog.  And we have the chats tomorrow!  Guido has posted the times.

 

Grahics:  Sweet & Simple Pleasures

Tags: J-Land 5 Celebration

 

Oops!  I almost forgot! 

United States

Augusta, Georgia

742

miles from Caneyhead........SALUTE!!!!!!

The Harvest

Stopped by Carolyn's blog today.  As usual, she had a good, informative, thought provoking post.  She mentioned in that post how the message of many Christians, Christian groups and churches are being watered down.  Cleaned up to make them more acceptable.  More palatable.  Ignoring the fact that sin separates man from God, or that Christ's blood was necessary to cleanse us from sin, or that He is coming back.

Then I see this little story in today's Laugh and Lift.  This is not my writing, my work.  I share it here merely to cause some to reflect and to think. 

The Harvest
(Author Unknown)
 
There was once a spider who lived in a cornfield. He was a big spider and he had spun a beautiful web between the corn stalks. He got fat eating all the bugs that would get caught in his web. He liked his home and planned to stay there for the rest of his life.
 
One day the spider caught a little bug in his web, and just as the spider was about to eat him, the bug said, "If you let me go I will tell you something important that will save your life." The spider paused for a moment and listened because he was amused. "You better get out of this cornfield," the little bug said, "The harvest is coming!"
 
The spider smiled and said, "What is this harvest you are talking about? I think you are just telling me a story." But the little bug said, "Oh no, it is true. The owner of this field is coming to harvest it soon. All the stalks will be knocked down and the corn willbe gathered up. You will be killed by the giant machines if you stay here."
 
The spider said, "I don't believe in harvests and giant machines that knock down corn stalks. How can you prove this?" The little bug continued, "Just look at the corn. See how it is planted in rows? It proves this field was created by an intelligent designer." The spider laughed and mockingly said, "This field has evolved and has nothing to do with a creator. Corn always grows that way." The bug went on to explain, "Oh no. This field belongs to the owner who planted it, and the harvest is coming soon." The spider grinned and said to the little bug, "I don't believe you," and then the spider ate the little bug for lunch.
 
A few days later, the spider was laughing about the story the little bug had told him. He thought to himself, "A harvest! What a silly idea. I have lived here all of my life and nothing has ever disturbed me. I have been here since these stalks were just a foot off the ground, and I'll be here for the rest of my life, because nothing is ever going to change in this field. Life is good, and I have it made."
 
The next day was a beautiful sunny day in the cornfield. The sky above was clear and there was no wind at all. That afternoon as the spider was about to take a nap, he noticed some thick dusty clouds moving toward him. He could hear the roar of a great engine and he said to himself, "I wonder what that could be?"
 
2 Peter 3:3-4 "In the last days mockers will come, following their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming?'"
 
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but He is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance."

                                     

Whether you are a Christian or not, hold pre-millennial views, post millennial views or pan "It'll all pan out in the end." please take a moment to answer this simple little poll totally anonymously. 

 

                                

Tags: Laugh & Lift, The Second Coming, blogplugs

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